Dear scotty,
I have a 2016 Acura TLX (Tech) with 81,000miles on it. I got it used with 65,000miles and has been working perfectly. Suddenly, I noticed when the car heats up or if I drive aggressively, it won't start up again but if I let it sit for a few minutes to cool down, it starts right up. I initially thought I had a bad battery so I got it replaced but it does the same thing. I got a technician to check the charging system and it works fine. Two different technicians told me to replace the starter motor. Am not sure though. I asked them to check the starter relay and they said it works fine. I am writing you from Nigeria and if am going to change a stater motor am going to order it from the U.S and that's a gamble. If am going to do that I need to know if that's really the problem but so far, no one seems to know what's causing this to happen. Btw, it starts up perfectly every morning but once I hit the road and turn the car off for any reason, there is no guarantee it will start up again. A trick I started using is to hold down the gas pedal when trying to start the car and it works. I seem to be cursed with HONDA products. I had a 2008 Honda cbr1000rr and it was doing the same thing. I never figured out the issue.
Well let me tell you this. If you hold down the gas pedal and it starts then it has nothing to do with the starter motor. That means it's getting more fuel when you step on the gas. So the engine is probably flooding out when it's hot. Injectors leaking a little for some reason. You're getting the engine flooding out and after it sits a while when it's cold, all that fuel evaporates is no longer flooded and it'll start right up.
Wow I never thought of that. I never knew engine flooding could stop the engine from spinning because you would thing the battery simply isn't strong enough to crank it. Would you recommend I get the same injectors or a higher CC one? Any brand or website you could recommend? How do i test which injector is bad? Thanks Scotty!
Hey Bawa,
I had a very similar problem and it was down to the fuel pressure sensor. There were no fault codes. Basically, it heats up (it heats up quicker when it is hot outside, of course), it works until you turn the car off. As soon as you turn it off, you can't turn it back on. If you pop the hood and leave it like that for 30 minutes or so, it will start again. A trick I used is throw a wet towel on the senor (it is located on the fuel pump under the bonnet with my car) to cool it down quicker. A mechanic did something to it for free and said that it should work fine as long as the pump works. Anyway, you can check the sensor as well.
Mind you, I don't have a lot of experience with petrol cars, only diesels, but maybe some stuff is similar.
So I think I figured it out! I searched extensively on YouTube for anyone similar issues and came across one video and the guy mentioned the starter motor. However, instead of changing it, he opened it up and noticed the parts lacked lubrication and there was a lot of dirt on the brushes. He simply cleaned out the internals with sandpaper and lubricated the necessary parts and it worked! So... I did the exact same thing + switched out the armature with a harvested one from another Honda and it works perfectly! No more issues till now but it's only been a few hours so, am going to observe it and see if it holds up.